Maple Coated Nuts

[twigbender]

I've seen almonds, pecans, and other nuts coated with maple candy. It's not a thick coating but closer to a glaze. Does anyone out there know how to make this happen? Thanks,

Twigbender

[brookledge]

The way I do mine is boil the syrup(light amber)to 245-246 degrees. Then add the nuts to the container you boiled the syrup in. Stir it around to get even coating and spread out on large cookie sheets to dry.
I normally will do 4-5 lbs. at a time depending how the nuts are packaged.
The thing to remember is that the pot needs to be able to hold all of the nuts and you have to be careful while boiling it because the syrup depth in the pot will be low.
10 lbs. nuts use 6 cups syrup
5 lbs use 3 cups and so on
Keith

[mapleman3]

I'm making some right now, I do mine differently, I take about a pint of syrup to 4 lbs.nuts.. I heat to 240ish as well but I use a big sauce pan fill with about 1.5 lbs peanuts or walnuts pour about a 1/4 of the syrup in the middle
then stir it until the peanuts start drying and breaking back apart with a nice dry coating on them... and do again till all 4 lbs are done.... works great for me! each time I empty the dry nuts to another container or bowl so I have an epty pot to stir in... and as always I keep it seperate from when I make candy.. I actually use a different wooden spoon and pot so I don't worry

[twigbender]

Thanks for the help. I'm anxious to give it a try, but I think I'll wait until I cook some new syrup down instead of trying to use last years leftover stuff. It STILL hasn't begun to run here in No. Minnesota!! Maybe tomorrow!

[maple flats]

We do ours with light or med syrup. 1 cup syrup per pound of nuts. Heat syrup to 240 then stir in nuts well. Then dry in oven at 200 til dry. They sell very well.

[mapleman3]

I'm not sure why everyone drys them in an oven, mine dry just from stirring them. I am ready to package after stirring.. nice coating on them....

[brookledge]

I don't have to dry mine in the oven.
Keith

[Dave Y]

Although you do not have to dry them in the oven, doing so will extend the shelf life. This is important if you are making the ahead to sell and not eat for yourself.

[PA mapler]

Are you guys using salted or unsalted nuts? I think most of the honey-roasted nuts you buy from a store are salted to some extent.

[maple flats]

We use salted nuts.

[brookledge]

I have found that walnuts and pecans sell better than peanuts. I usually buy them in large bags. If you use peanuts I don't think it will matter if you use salted or unsalted.
Keith

[maple flats]

Not a cat, but several years ago a friend reported seeing a wolf, yea, a wolf, in upstate NY. The DEC said there were none at all in the state. A few weeks later my friend shot the wolf while deer hunting when it got too close and wouldn't leave him alone and quietly got it mounted. It is BIG and all silver. I think the DEC still says there are no wolves in NYS.
Oops, I posted this in the wrong thread. I have also put it in June Journal. Sorry

[PA mapler]

Finally tried the maple nuts! I made a mini batch just to see if it'd work, with some dark amber from '04 and salted, roasted peanuts. I boiled the syrup to 245, then poured it into a bowl with the peanuts, stirred a few times and got everything coated barely before the syrup turned to sticky glue, and then it looked like I was making peanut brittle. I plopped the whole blob of nuts onto a cookie sheet and spread it out as best I could. As it cooled, the syrup hardened to a more granular texture and the clumps could be broken up. Is this kinda what you guys are doing? It can't be too off, because it sure tastes great!

[Jim Brown]

Beth; We make a many, many pounds of the coated nuts(walnuts-almonds-pecans-peanuts) and have found that 240 is the best temp. You will need to adjust for the barometric pressure of the day. One day temp will be adjusted to 242-43 and the next it will be 238-39. All depends on the weather.

Hope this helps
Jim

[Sugarmaker]

Beth,
Everything sounds right. Error on the high temp side of 240. Older syrup may not sugar as well as fresher. 04 syrup should be OK. After you pour onto the nuts keep stirring ( gets tough) till the gloss is gone and the nuts start to glob up. Then dump the mass onto a big cookie sheet and gently smash them into small chunks. let them cool. I use a qt of syrup and 3 lb of peanuts.

Chris

[Dave Y]

I use 8oz per lb for batches under 2.5 lbs. I also use Grade B. Heat the syrup to 242-245. Then pour over nuts and stirs until the look dry. If your nuts are glossy the syrup is not hot enough. You can fix that by putting them on a cookie sheet in the oven for 20-30 mins @245. the will sugar up just fine. Also to keep coated
nuts for an extended peirod put them in the oven for 3hrs at a temp of 110-130.
this is what I do to make nuts ahead for the farmers mkts and holidays

[PA mapler]

I think you're right, and I got my syrup too hot. Once I began stirring, it set up almost immediately, like hot taffy at first, and I couldn't "stir til dry". After it cooled on the cookie sheet, the coating lost the "gloss" and looked right, at least. I used 1 cup of syrup for one pound of nuts. I'll make a bigger batch this weekend, and try 240 degrees. Thanks!

[the old guy]

Some Questions: What Do You Package Them In?? And How Much Do You Sell Them For?? I Made Two 1-lb Batches This Weekend And They Turned Out Just Great! I Made One Batch Of Almonds And 1 Batch Of Pecans. I Just Heated Up The Syrup To Near 240 And One Guy Poured The Syrup And The Other Stirred Them In A Bowl Until They Were Well Coated And Placed Them On A Cookie Sheet. It Helps To Have The Pecans Or Almonds Slightly Warm--they Seem To Coat Easier.

The Old Guy

[Father & Son]

The Old Guy,
If I sell them by the pound (peanuts) $10.00. Price would depend on the cost of the nuts you use. I put the pounds in sandwich size zip lock bags. I will also put them in sucker bags (that you get from the mapleguys) for $1.00 a bag for 1 1/2 oz. Works out to about the same money. I seal the small bags with a sugar house label, that way the customer has your address when they need more.

Jim

[jemsklein]

Father & Son
do you know how long they are good for i guest it is a stupid question but i was thinking of making enough to last awhile

[Father & Son]

If your house is anything like mine, it doesn't matter how many you make, they WON'T last very long at all. They taste too good to sit around very long.

Nuts of any kind are vaccum packed to keep them fresh. I've had some smaller packages around for a couple of months, but you can tell they're starting to get old. They don't taste funny they just aren't as crunchy anymore.

Jim

[Maplepro]

Well I would just like to thank you guys for introducing me to the best maple nuts I have had by far I have been watching this post for a while and didn’t really give it much thought until Sunday I woke up went to the bush and did some stuff and then came home had the house to my self and I decided I would do some cooking. I had some peanuts so I decided to give the maple nuts a whirl. Well I only had enough to make a pound of nuts they were gone by 5pm the next day I just finished making 5lbs and by the looks of it they aren’t going to last as long as the first pound! Well just wanted to say thanks.
Dave

[twigbender]

I tried the recipes you guys posted using almonds. My, I sure hope they're healthy to eat in large quantities! Of the five of us that were here when they got done, only one displayed any semblance of restraint toward this wonderful confection -- and he doesn't like almonds! They diappeared in a hurry. Going to have a go at it with a pound of walnuts tonight. I doubt they'll have any more of a survival outlook than the almonds did. But what fun!!!

[Brent]

Well if it was hard only to eat one nut, eating only one maple coated nut is nearly impossible.

Tried some tonight.

I think the hooker to sell them would be to have some of those tiny cups as samplers. One taste and you'd have 'em hooked.